Sincerely,

The bells that rang announcing this new year sounded loudly with overflowing love and gratitude.

This won’t be a post about any particular event or outing. I won’t dive into the details of our New Year’s Eve festivities, the following day’s luxurious stay in bed, or the magnificent hiking adventure that we embarked upon the next day. Much to Megan’s dismay, who I know would like me to write separate posts for each occasion, I would prefer our first post this year to be about feeling rather than fact.

It’s a fact that we attended an intensely cheery, delightful, NYE party thrown by Megan’s friend, Katy Weaver (NYE photos by her). We woke up only to stay anchored in bed the next day, enjoying a homemade kit of decadence by way of smoked salmon, fine cheese, and a few too many mimosas. All this while watching, not one, two, or three, but the first three Harry Potter movies. In rebellion against our own compulsive wills to be productive, we used covers and cuddles to shackle ourselves into a state of relaxation. I won’t write about that though. With well-rested muscles and minds only slightly hazy from a day of gradual drinking, we spent Saturday awing and ohmygawding the breathtaking beauty of Portland, hiking up to Pittock Mansion from Macleay Park. Nope, I won’t write about that either. Maybe in a different post, if Megan says so.

In a sentence: This year began by capturing everything I love about Megan, our audacious relationship, and my new life. All in three short days.

For several years I began each first day of January by creating lists of what I aim to accomplish and how I could better myself over the succeeding twelve months. Put differently, I spent the day alone. I wrote, I read, I planned — I did not live.

Pause. Are days weighed and measured with the same contrived consistency of coin? Do we spend days, either cheaply or recklessly, the same way we charge trips on Uber or empty our pockets of bills to buy a late-night feast? Skeptically, begrudgingly, I must agree for now that time is a sort of currency, though I surmise that few know its value until after it is gone. With even less certainty; Unpause.

Three days into the new year, I finally take the time — spend the time — to reflect on life and how to make it better. Nothing comes to mind. Life is harmonious like your favorite song beginning on the radio the moment you start your car for work on a Monday morning. Nothing to take away or add, you just sit and enjoy the moment. That’s the only feeling that came to mind when I sat to write our next post. The words above followed that feeling; trailing behind and then leading the way.

I resolve to enjoy this year with Megan. In all its glory, glamor, and oftentimes goofiness, my only goal for this year is to spend each moment enjoying what I have with Her — the love of my life.

Fun Fact: Megan will still totally make me write posts about those adventures and, apparently, she has already created outlines for us to start writing our partnership and individual resolutions for the year. Some things simply never change. You've got that right!